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Very interesting post by Fr. Jim about his experience there.

Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus brought tears to my eyes this morning while I drove to work. It’s a wonderful beyond words. A bit of music trivia for you folks: Handel’s Messiah is one of those works that ends up in the snobby musician spotlight because it’s old enough that educated folks want to hear it without the 19th-century bombasticism [alert: I just made up a great word! sounds like monasticism and is almost an antonym.]
Most British conductors will strive for a performance that sounds like the original. Most Italian conductors will go nuts, reorchestrate it to include things like tubas or a gong (that didn’t even exist in Western music at the time,) and super-loudness and tempo changes that make Danny Elfman scores sound like C.P.E. Bach. My feeling is the music doesn’t need 19th-century non-sensibilities in order to be effective. It’s a true masterpiece and therefore the performance style doesn’t need to change to please an ear with different taste.
So I’m circling back to my previous thought: Where are the Sacred Masterpieces of the 20th Century? I can name a few and the composers don’t have S.J. after their name.

The issue is not whether Church documents have some preferences and norms: the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy details the preeminent place of chant, polyphony and the organ in latin rite liturgies. The issue is rather the fact that bishops don’t have much to say about those norms, or about musical style. It’s literally within a Bishop’s authority to ban certain instruments from the church, but I’m not aware of any who have felt the need to ban the slide-whistle, the kazoo, the harmonica or the bassoon. I won’t mention the g-u-i-t-a-r or I’ll get all sorts of nasty feedback about how snotty I am.
So the question is: is music style in church really that important in the grand scheme?

John – Doesn’t the GIRM have guidelines about instrumentation or at least what is preferred for the Mass?

Every now and then I wonder if the whole discussion around musical styles is worth the effort and heartburn associated with it. Many kind-hearted people of traditional tastes in music have noted that the US Bishops have not exercised much guidance and authority around music in catholic worship. In fact, documents like Music in Catholic Worship don’t address the issue of what sounds sacred, what’s preferred, holy or best in terms of style. Consequently, local pastors often bear the brunt of issues around a music program related to budget, who hired/or serves as volunteers and what instruments are used or purchased. And we know that local pastors have many, many things that are higher on the food chain: the sacraments, the care for the sick and the poor, education, building expansion, etc.
I don’t have an answer – I’m just throwing it out there for discussion and as a question worth pondering: what is truly worth living for – are we truly serving the Kingdom of God, or our we caught up in melting down gold for the calf?
Side note: I was listening to all sorts of great music on the way to work: Hallelujah Chorus, the Rutter “God be in my head”, the Stanford “Justorum Animae” and I thought, how wonderful and beautiful are those things. And how much greater will the heavenly music be.